Humanitarian Careers? Reputation and Moral Labour in International Humanitarian Medical NGOs

This case studentship revisits the work of Dauvin and Simeant (2002) on the sociology of labour at Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) to identify the motivations, career paths and work conditions of staff in now vastly expanded and internationalised medical humanitarian organisations. Through a partnership with MSF UK and MSF CRASH Paris, this studentship will benefit from access to midcareer humanitarians (as well as developing conversations with the Human Resources departments of two operational centres of MSF (Amsterdam and Paris).

As an emergency responder which also delivers long term programmes at home (Hanrieder and Galesne, 2021) and abroad, MSF has a culture of precarious employment, short-term contracts and assignments which have long made the concept of humanitarian career within the movement a complex issue. Despite setting up staff development programmes such as the LEAP programme, the MSF academy and a vast array of internal training courses, MSF has an acknowledged loose understanding of what makes a career within its ranks: what role does reputation play? What importance is given to compliance over initiative? What are the constraints of a complex rhizomic organisation on the employees? What are the legacies of colonialism and racism in the way employees are offered career opportunities.

The methodology will combine historical, sociological and political analysis of the organisation since the La Mancha agreement of 2005 recognising internal inequalities among categories of staff within the organisation. It will employ a series of interviews, group work and will engage with HR departments to understand how this work is currently undertaken in Amsterdam and Paris. The study will employ the following methods:

• Secondary data analysis of both academic and practitioner literature on MSF, moral labour and the sociology of humanitarian work;
• Systematic review of MSF HR policy documents and recruitment, retention and training initiatives;
• Expert interviews with key stakeholders, including MSF senior management, HR staff, and directors of staff development programmes;
• Focus group discussions with mid-career MSF employees;
• Participant observation in the HR departments of MSF’s Amsterdam and Paris operational centres;

Eligibility

Desirable requirements

• Candidates will preferably have a master degree in one of the following social sciences: Social Anthropology, Sociology, Politics, Contemporary History, Humanitarian or Development Studies.
• Fluent English and French are required languages for research and dissemination (Spanish would be desirable).

Academic requirements

• Bachelor’s (Honours) degree at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent); and
• Master’s degree in a relevant subject – with an overall average of 65% or above, a minimum mark of 65% in your dissertation and no mark below 55% (or overseas equivalent)

English Language

All applicants must provide evidence of English language proficiency:

• IELTS test minimum score – 7.0 overall, 7.0 in writing.
• TOEFL (internet based) test minimum score – 100 overall, 25 in all sections.
• Pearson Test of English (PTE) UKVI/SELT or PTE Academic minimum score – 76 overall, 76 in writing.
• To demonstrate that you have taken an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a majority English speaking nation within the last 5 years.
• Other tests may be considered.

Application Procedure

The application deadline will be Midnight (GMT) on 28/02/2025. Apply online for PhD Humanitarianism and Conflict Response at the University of Manchester.

Under Section 6 Research Details select ‘Yes’ to Are you applying for an advertised project. Insert the project title as stated at the top of the advert. It is recommended when entering the name of the supervisor to simply enter this and not use the supervisor search function.

Please indicate in Section 9 Funding Sources your intention to apply for the ESRC CASE Studentship.

Ensure all required supporting documents are included at the time of submission, as incomplete applications may not be considered. Your application must include the following:

• A copy of your Bachelor’s and Master’s academic transcripts and certificates. If your Master’s degree is pending, please provide an interim transcript.
• If you have completed more than one Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, please provide evidence for each. If your transcripts are in a language other than English, you must provide an official English translation. If your weighted average mark or GPA is not included on these documents, please also include an official document from your university verifying this information.
• An academic CV, summarising your employment history, publications and highlighting experience demonstrating your research potential.
• Supporting statement of a maximum of 700 words indicating why you would like to undertake this studentship and explaining how your focus, experience, and skills link to the research outlined above
• Example of a piece of academic writing produced by you of up to 5,000 words (you may consider submitting two shorter pieces if these deal separately with conceptual and empirical analyses). This may be an academic essay or chapter(s) from a dissertation, in which case, an abstract or introduction outlining the context/aims/research questions of the study must also be included. In Section 12, upload the Writing Sample under Research Statement/Proposal and label it clearly as “Writing Sample.”
• You must nominate two academic referees (including one from your most recent institution). Your referees will be contacted directly via the Referee Portal following the submission of your application form. You may wish to contact your referees to request they submit your reference in a reasonable timeframe as this forms part of the review process.
• Please submit a complete copy of the ESRC NWSSDTP Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form.
• A PhD Proposal is not required.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please contact Prof Bertrand Taithe (Bertrand.Taithe@manchester.ac.uk)

Formal interviews: Interviews are expected to take place on 21st March 2025.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

Equality, diversity and inclusion are fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and are at the heart of all of our activities. We know that diversity strengthens our research community, leading to enhanced research creativity, productivity and quality, and societal and economic impact.

We actively encourage applicants from diverse career paths and backgrounds and from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and transgender status.